To Everything There is a Season

I was reading the Himalaya Times the other day and one of the top stories was that the monsoon was expected early this year. It usually arrives on June 10, but they were expecting it on June 6 this year. This was based on satellite images as well as the fact that it came a few days early in Burma. Can you imagine a Canadian weather guy committing to a date that a season will start? I find it all rather mind-boggling. My lake would open anywhere from mid-April to mid-May and there was just no predicting it from one year to the next.

Yesterday morning was unbearably hot and sunny and the thought of a monsoon was as far from my mind as it could get. However, at about noon the sky started to cloud over and by evening the skies opened up. It wasn't a huge rain, but it really came down for a while, and was accompanied by thunder and lightening. There was even a power failure for about an hour which was unscheduled and may have been due to the storm. They have regular scheduled power outages here, usually between 6:30 and 9:00 PM. I'm not sure if these are power-saving measures or if they are in protest of something. At any rate, most businesses are well-equipped with generators, so essential stuff is usually available.

As for protests/strikes, it seems like there is one every second day. They are called bandhs and can have any number of causes. When I was here 5 years ago, they were usually attributed to the Maoists, who would insist that all businesses close down on a specific day in support of their cause. Anyone who didn't comply risked physical harm to his establishment or person. (This even reached as far as the donkey trains in the mountains which stopped moving for the day.)Now the reasons are much more diverse. For example, last week the private school teachers were protesting that their salaries weren't in line with the public school teachers (!), and all the businesses closed down in support of them. I actually love the bandh days - Kathmandu is so quiet and peaceful that it's great just to wander the streets without having taxis, rickshaws and salesmen to deal with. And unlike 5 years ago, you don't have to worry about a bomb going off in a store that refused to close for a bandh.

Bandhs or not, I'm really ready to get out of Kathmandu and am hoping to do so before the monsoon truly sets in. As of Saturday, everything was looking good for my trek. I got an e-mail from Tshering Sherpa outlining all the details of the trek and welcoming me on board. He still hadn't had confirmation from his Japanese client as she is away on a business trip, but was confident that she would welcome my company (and bank account). Bhola was moving over the weekend, so the plan was to contact him this morning to make our plans for the trek. As part of the Mustang trek, we fly to Pokhara on the 17th and then fly to a town called Jomson on the 18th which is where the trekking begins.

Given that that's still two weeks away, I felt the need to do something prior to that to get myself out of the city. It is possible to hike in from Pokhara to Jomson. This takes about a week and makes up part of the trek that I did last time I was here. I was hoping that Bhola would accompany me to Pokhara sometime in the next few days and then we could hike up to Jomson together and meet the rest of the group there for the Mustang trek. I would love to do this trek again (although this is one of the places that has really changed in the last few years) and it would be nice to get back out into the mountains as soon as possible. We could probably do this trek together without any other staff, as we could stay in lodges instead of camping and the trekking is easy enough (under 3000 metres ASL) that I could carry my own pack. This means that it would be relatively inexpensive for me and it would give Bhola another week's work, which I'm sure he would welcome.

When I called Bhola this morning to make arrangements to meet with him to discuss our plans, his son answered the phone and told me that Bhola was away for a week. Needless to say, this came as a surprise as he was anxiously awaiting my call, so I figured something was wrong. I got a Nepali guy from the guest house to call back and it turns out that Bhola's oldest son had passed away over the weekend and Bhola had gone to retrieve the body and attend the cremation. Bhola had told me that his son was ill, but I certainly didn't expect this. When Bhola told me about his illness, I had a million questions but wasn't sure if they were appropriate to ask so they largely went unanswered. Also, Bhola's English is fairly rudimentary so I'm sure I didn't get the whole story. When I was here 5 years ago, the boy was a strapping lad of 16. Since then, I understand he had gained some weight and his friends were teasing him about it. He stopped eating at this point and lost a lot of weight. He was then diagnosed with diabetes and given medication (not insulin injections by the sound of things). He continued to lose weight and weaken. The doctor attributed this to stress and told Bhola to go easy on him (e.g. not push him at school and not to work him too hard in the family-run store). He has since finished school and works very short hours in the store. (Incidentally, this store brings in about $.50 per day as additional income for the family.) As his health continued to decline and the doctors weren't providing any constructive advice, they reverted to their old ways and decided to send him to the shaman in the village where Bhola was born. This is in the Makalu area, east of Mt. Everest near the Tibetan border. So the son and his uncle set out on this journey about a week ago and I guess he passed away during this trip. I don't have any more details at this point and am absolutely dreading seeing Bhola when he returns. My heart is breaking for him.

As for my plans, I'm not really sure what will happen. Sad to say, I'm fairly certain that Bhola will still want to come with me, as there's no such thing as bereavement pay here and he won't be able to turn down the work. He still has two teenage sons to feed and put through school. However, I don't know when to expect him back in Kathamandu or when he may be able to leave. I don't want to go ahead and make other plans for the Pokhara to Jomson part of the trek, in case he wants to go and gets back in time. I also can't bring myself to leave Kathmandu until I see him, regardless of what our business arrangements may be. I don't know what to do in this situation - the culture is so different from our own. It's hard enough to know what to say to a parent who has lost their child but with the added fear of doing or saying something inappropriate, it's that much harder. How do you console someone without being able to touch them?

So I guess I'll be here for a while longer. I spent the afternoon yesterday at the Nepali Tourist Bureau making visa arrangements so I am prepared for any eventuality. My plan, before this morning, was to do the Mustang trek which would get me back to Kathmandu on July 1. I was then going to head down to India for a month or so to trek during their trekking season. I'd then come back to Kathmandu and join a tour to Tibet from August 9 - September 3. Then back to Kathmandu and do another trek into the Dolpo region during the trekking season here. After that, if I decided I could handle more of India I'd head back down to do some sight-seeing as it would be cooler there at that time of year. I have the visas in place to do all this except the Tibet part, which I haven't committed to yet. I know it sounds a bit convoluted but both the weather and scheduled tour dates have dictated this agenda.

So that's life in Kathmandu. On a brighter note, Go Sens!